Mizoram govt constitutes new boundary committee to handle dispute with Assam

Aizawl, Jan 12: The ZPM government in Mizoram has constituted a new boundary committee to handle issues related to the state’s border dispute with neighbouring Assam, a home department official said on Friday.

The committee is headed by Home Minister K Sapdanga, while Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Lalthansanga is the vice chairman of the panel, according to a recent notification.

Home Commissioner and Secretary H Lalengmawia was made the member secretary, he said.

Other members of the committee include advisor to the chief minister (political) Lalmuanpuia Punte, Chief Secretary Renu Sharma, Director General of Police (DGP) Anil Shukla, and Joseph K Lalfakzuala, an assistant professor at state-run T Romana College.

Besides, one member each from the political parties BJP, Congress, Mizo National Front (MNF), Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also been included in the committee.

Also, one representative each from the NGO Coordination Committee, Central Young Mizo Association (CYMA), Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), Mizoram Upa Pawl (MUP) or Mizoram Elders’ Association, Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (MHIP) or Mizo Women Federation, Mizo Students’ Union (MSU) and Joint Action Committee on Inner Line Reserve Forest Demand are part of the committee.

The notification stated that the committee’s chairman, Sapdanga, can invite any person he considers necessary to its meeting.

With the formation of the new committee, the previous boundary panel constituted by the MNF government is now disbanded.

Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma is likely to meet his Assam counterpart, Himanta Biswa Sharma, this month to discuss the border issue between the two states, officials said.

A discussion between them is expected during the North Eastern Council (NEC) plenary session to be held in Meghalaya’s capital, Shillong, on January 19, they said.

The two leaders will discuss the border issue to resolve the long-standing dispute, the officials said.

The proposed NEC plenary session will be chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Mizoram shares a 164.6-km-long border with Assam, and both states have a long-standing boundary dispute.

The dispute took an ugly turn in July 2021 when police forces of the two states exchanged fire along the inter-state boundary, leading to the deaths of six policemen and a civilian from Assam.

More than 60 people were also injured in the violent clash that took place in the disputed area near Mizoram’s Vairengte village.

The two states have held several rounds of talks since then and agreed to maintain peace along the boundary and resolve the dispute through dialogue.

The border dispute between the two neighbouring states stemmed from two colonial demarcations in 1875 and 1933.

Mizoram claims that 509 square miles of the inner line reserved forest, notified in 1875 under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) 1873, falls within its territory, while Assam, on the other hand, regarded the map prepared by the Survey of India in 1933 as its constitutional boundary.

Vast areas within the inner line reserved forest now fall under Assam. Similarly, a certain extent of the area, as per the 1933 demarcation, is now on the Mizoram side.

There is no ground demarcation of boundaries between the two states.